Climate
My mum phones me from Sydney the other day. “It’s sooooo hot,’’ she moans.
“The air is so humid, I can’t even go outside!
“I’ve shut up the whole house and closed all the blinds to keep it cool.
“I couldn’t use the oven, it made the house too hot.
Continue reading "20 heat-defeating tips from the NT for soft Southerners" »
[Ed’s note, at the time of publication the temperature in Sydney was 38 degrees and rising.]
One day with the mercury set to rise above 40 and Sydney is awash with panic the moaning can be heard all the way here in the Outback. Facebook and Twitter is jammed with people’s personal accounts of their preparations to beat the heat almost like Heat Survival plan for one day.
Out here in Broken Hill a day over 40 is the norm this summer we’re in the middle of a 10 day stretch with temperatures over 40. I’m Sydney born and bred and now live in Broken Hill. I just happen to have landed in Broken Hill in the middle of one of their hottest summers ever so I reckon I can speak with some authority about heat.
Let me tell you Sydney about real heat. Real heat is when you wake up at 2am drenched in sweat and you check the temperature and it’s a balmy 35 degrees.
Continue reading "That’s not hot! I’ll tell you what hot is…" »
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jg says:
Rode a camel into the sahara a few years back in 50 degree heat. That was f*cking hot. I mean, really, really f*cking hot. At least it cooled off to about 40 overnight Read more »
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Michael says:
Sunny, the report in your link takes a lot of its information from the Intergovernmental Report on Climate Change, which talks of the increase in Carbon Dioxide levels and on one hand says, “scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is unequivocal”, then later says, “there is an absence… Read more »
The Daily Mail reports that the UK Met Office’s Hadley Research Centre and the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Centre – who jointly monitor climate data – have posted data on its website that showed there has been no global warming over the past 16 years.
‘Hallelujah! Mankind not headed for carbongeddon after all’ reads CRU – Met Office joint media release. Met Office joyfully proclaims the ‘British Isles will not sink’. Hooray!
Desperate for some good news the White House’s Jay Carney rushes before press corps to announce breathlessly, ‘Obama’s pledge to heal planet working’. UN announces disbandment of ‘humourless white-coated guys who measure stuff’. In Australia, Treasurer Wayne Swan announces all carbon taxes will be refunded. Huzzah! The Greens have a collective aneurysm.
Continue reading "Hiding the real climate story in plain view" »
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Jane Goodluck says:
At no point has Jones made any effort to provide a proper source for his reportage of the Mirror article’s original basis. Fortunately, the UK Met Office has now made its own rebuttal, in depth, first hand, here: http://metofficenews.wordpress.com/2012/10/14/met-office-in-the-media-14-october-2012/ Read more »
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Jane Goodluck says:
By link to actual original source, I meant just that. Jones has not provided that. Nor has Tropical, who prefers to make up personal suppositions instead. Meanwhile, the UK Met Office has in fact rebutted the Mirror’s misrepresentations (and hence Jones’s), as (first hand, original) here: http://metofficenews.wordpress.com/2012/10/14/met-office-in-the-media-14-october-2012/ Read more »
Remember the Kyoto Protocol? The only international legally binding framework the world has to reduce emissions? Signing it, to much fanfare, was Labor’s first significant act after being swept to victory in 2007. It signalled Australia’s willingness to finally join international action to fight climate change.
Now, the first incarnation of Kyoto is about to come to its end, but that fight is far from over. A second phase of the Kyoto Protocol would pave the way to a more ambitious and inclusive global climate treaty, which is what we desperately need if we are to avoid dangerous climate change.
While the Government has copped a hammering on many fronts in recent years, the decision to ratify the Kyoto Protocol remains popular, according to polling released last week by WWF. The Opposition’s climate change spokesman Greg Hunt also is now on the record as saying his party supports signing on to the next phase.
Continue reading "Australia needs to warm up to climate change - the sequel" »
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bailey says:
“Oops is this whats known as ‘a spanner in the works’? “ No, it’s what’s known as the Heartland Institute. A lobby group for big oil. Comprising tea party members and right wing fringe dwellers. You’d fit right in. Read more »
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thatmosis says:
Yes, sounds about right or maybe the Greens annual meeting of like “minds” certainly not with ordinary people who might just disagree with the intended intentions of the poll. These polls make one laugh, they word it in such a way that even if you disagree you are still… Read more »
There’s a curious silence today so far today on many of the regular climate change denier websites, concerning a story which has been the most clicked yarn on news.com.au for much of the day.
An Australian scientist drilling into Antarctic ice cores has found that 8000 years worth of natural CO2 increases have occurred in just 200 years since the start of the industrial revolution.
In other words, we’re spewing out CO2 at unprecedented rates. As the glaciologist behind the study, Joel Pedro says: “Just as the steady increase in CO2 helped to melt the ice caps and warm the earth out of the ice age, the rapid increase now in CO2 is also driving up temperatures, only at a much faster rate”.
Continue reading "A mammoth slap in the face for climate change deniers" »
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GLOBAL WARMING SKEPTIC says:
God you people are gulible. Wanna be scientists quoting journals they have no idea about. I am not a scientist thankfully as I have scruples. 1:Volcano’s spew out the following by products: H2O water vapor CO2 carbon dioxide SO2 sulfur dioxide H2S hydrogen sulfide CO carbon monoxide HCl hydrogen chloride… Read more »
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GLOBAL WARMING SKEPTIC says:
God you people are gulible. Wanna be scientists quoting journals they have no idea about. I am not a scientist thankfully as I have scruples. 1:Volcano’s spew out the following by products: H2O water vapor CO2 carbon dioxide SO2 sulfur dioxide H2S hydrogen sulfide CO carbon monoxide HCl hydrogen chloride… Read more »
Each of us has childhood memories of exploring and enjoying the unique Australian environment. From the beach to the backyard, surely it is the great outdoors that unites us all.
It may have been beach fishing on a windswept, majestic Moreton Island as a teen, as I experienced, or something as simple as family time spent in the backyard of the ramshackle beach house that so many of us seemed to have. Either way, all Australians have an abiding love of these special youthful memories of the natural world. We must fight to preserve these experiences. Not so much for ourselves, but for the youngest among us and those yet to be born, who are still to have their special moments outdoors in Australia.
As the threat of climate change grows greater and more imminent, we need to remember what it is we are acting to protect for future generations.
Continue reading "Keep your eyes on the prize and forget carbon tax fear" »
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True Blue Ozzie says:
What a crock of s—t! All these bored useless environmentalist seem to conviently forget Earths long history before man arrived! If they were honest and used earths history, it does show that earth has been through global warming before man arrived.They have chosen to dismiss this, in oreder to run… Read more »
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Lisa Meredith says:
Dear Kassandra, That would be good. I would like it if you could answer my question. Thankyou. Read more »
Dylan Malloch laments that understanding climate change is difficult, with the forecasts sometimes appearing to be contradictory or having a bit both ways, and therefore seeming all rather confusing! It’s easy to sympathise with him. Unfortunately, this is the nature of science.
Let’s consider another example. Newton’s laws of physics work just fine for the everyday world, but if we tried to use them in the timing system of our global positioning satellites, the resulting drift error would be about 10 kilometres every day.
So, the engineers at GPS mission control need to use Einstein’s relativistic theories to make sure your iPhone tells you precisely where you are, whenever you want to know. Similarly, neither Newton’s or Einstein’s equations allow scientists to properly predict the subatomic interactions within the electronics of satellites or iPhones. For that, you need to reference the weird world of quantum mechanics.
Continue reading "COUNTERPUNCH: It’s complicated, but it’s real" »
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Joshua Leppard says:
All the factors which may or may not affect climate change, affect the overall relationship we have with eachother as well as with the planet. To focus on the possible effects on climate change alone is to ignore the bigger picture. Read more »
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Geoff Russell says:
Of course climate scientists make predictions and they are pretty damned accurate. Here’s a general prediction from 1988 modelling ... and doing quite well 20 years on: http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/05/hansens-1988-projections/ More generally the prediction of more heat waves is also falsifiable but proving accurate ... look at page 2 here: http://www.bom.gov.au/inside/eiab/State-of-climate-2010-updated.pdf There… Read more »
What started as a ripple is now growing into a powerful protest wave sweeping across our great nation.
In the space of a week, it has been fed by a series of fiery meetings in outback Queensland and southern States, a symbolic funeral service in Perth and gatherings in Brisbane and Melbourne.
At first glance these might seem unrelated, but beneath the surface they are connected by a strong under current of people pushed to the limits. The Perth “funeral” on the steps of Parliament House involved the “death” of property rights, complete with wreath laying, a piper in full regalia and a cortege to Cottesloe Beach for symbolic burial.
Continue reading "The farmers’ revolution against climate bureaucrats" »
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Cate Stuart says:
Agree Ian Yeates. Lets hope Tony Abbott can really fill out his “budgie smugglers” and get on with stopping this run away train of money being syphoned of farming sectors, as they are now going bellie up - thanks in part to Julia! Wild Rivers, Native vegetation, Wilderness Nominations, Threatened… Read more »
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AB says:
sorry about the double post Read more »
Welcome to Monday @ The Punch
Today in 2001 an Indonesian fishing boat carrying 440 asylum seekers sinks en-route to Christmas Island. The event led to the loss of 353 lives.
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JatExtill says:
With he’s our guy with respect to a person’s future,’’ Elway said. ‘‘And sometimes we buy as a way to sacrifice the short-term to get some sort of long-term which can grab a guy which in turn you believe would be whom next guy on you, and then that’s Brock… Read more »
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Emaittytify says:
Andersen then rejoined Denver to find the 2008-09 time period, providing the spark off some of the bench in addition to the swatting 175 shots during our regular year or so . His play around the specific rim helped the main Nuggets make an important run to make sure you… Read more »
August 2009 was Australia’s warmest on record. Temperatures averaged over the country were 2.47C above the long-term average, nearly a degree above the previous August record set in 1998, and 25% of the country had its hottest August day on record at some stage during the month.
Some places, such as Collarenebri and Murwillumbah in NSW and Gatton in Queensland, broke their previous August records by 5C or more. Temperatures reached as high as 37.8C at Mungindi in NSW and 38.5C at Bedourie in Queensland, both of which were all-time state records for August.
Such an exceptional month leads to many people to ask: is this climate change?
Continue reading "Record heat and climate change: what’s going on?" »
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21 year old says:
To me, climate change is propaganda at its best. I can’t believe the government want to dictate to me how I live my life. Even now, I struggle to find a decent light bulb, other than those nasty fluroscent ‘energy savers’. Even if Australia adopted an ETS, the results will… Read more »
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Jason says:
Rob - I was working for a large (big 5) IT company during y2k, was involved in a large number of Y2K tests and analysis and to be brutally honest it was a complete load. Very few environments had any Y2K issues, the majority were resolved with minimal effort (mostly… Read more »
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